


A Single Petal Drop

by YinYangZodiac



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hanahaki Disease, Implied Transphobia, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lowkey cussing, M/M, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Trans Lance (Voltron), klance, male pronouns for lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 05:12:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11268627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YinYangZodiac/pseuds/YinYangZodiac
Summary: It's a hard life to live when you're in space. It's an even harder life to live when you're in love with someone while in space. It's practically impossible to live a life with Hanahaki Disease while in space when your love is so close.Keith and Lance are both in love with someone, but will they be able to make it when each petal drop gets them closer to the end?





	A Single Petal Drop

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I'd like to thank ZombieJack for allowing me and my friend GalacticDanny to be inspired by and use their picture to write this very long one-shot. Check out more of their artwork on their Instagram @xzombiejackx 
> 
> And an even bigger thank you to my friend for writing this with me! I enjoyed working on this so much and I hope you all enjoy it as well. ^+^ Check her out on her Instagram @galacticdanny
> 
> (Previously posted on Wattpad, check out their accounts if you want to see more of their works in the future!)

There was something about Lance that had Keith speechless. His hair, eyes, smile, everything caused Keith to stop in his tracks and take a breath of air before returning to whatever he was doing. Keith would love the way Lance randomly spoke in Spanish during battle, or how he would say small nicknames that were associated with whatever in the other language. All Keith knew was Korean and no one else could pick up on it. With Spanish, there were cognates, not with Korean.

Lance always struggled with love, he just couldn't understand it. Which frustrated him beyond belief after meeting Keith back at the Garrison. He wasn't suppose to love that stupid mullet. It was a dark black while Keith's skin was paler than the moon, or...that's what Lance thought about it anyways. He hated to admit that he loved Keith and those deep, purple eyes that held so much depth. Everytime he saw Keith do something, say something, his heart swelled because damn. Keith was handsome, gorgeous, out of this world. Which actually made a lot of sense, now that Lance thought about it. He really did love everything about Keith. It just wouldn't be a bad thing, if only Keith actually loved him back.

Keith walked around the ship in order to try and find some way of passing the time. He sighed and ran a hand through his mullet, actually contemplating on if he should cut it or not. He looked around for the one person he could count on to get the job done. There they stood, Pidge, working on Green as usual, although they looked about done with the repairs and whatnot. He looked up from where he was standing at Pidge, who was sitting on Green's head and was lowered down to see Keith. Pidge got off of Green's head, thanking her and telling her to rest, which she powered down to do just that. Pidge looked to Keith and sighed, running a couple of extra tests to see if there were small alarms around this area for Galras that should come around. 

"So, what do you need, Keith?" Pidge asked as they tilted their head and glanced at the other make, who looked slightly nervous.

"I was wondering if you could cut my hair to a... a decent length," He spoke as he grabbed at the black locks of hair and pulled it in front of him. "It's getting to be too long and well, Lance seems annoyed by it. I can't stand his constant comments about it. My hair often gets in the way a lot as well," He spoke before Pidge let out a sigh, shrugging. 

"If that is truly what you want, although I like your hair just the way it is," They suggested before glancing once again at his hair. Sure it had its length, but it was still his own style.

Lance walked into Green's hanger, looking for Pidge to ask them if they knew where Hunk was. He had been looking for Hunk for a while because he needed to get his emotions out somehow. Talking miscellaneously was Lance's strong point but, when it came to his actual emotions, only Coran and Hunk seemed to be able to help him express himself properly. He looked up from the ground and saw Keith and Pidge standing there. Lance's breath hitched when he saw Keith and his immediate feeling was to run, since Keith was the reason he was trying to find Hunk in the first place. He took a deep breath and made himself walk over to the two with his normal facade on.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Lance asked, glancing between Keith and Pidge curiously.

"Well, Keith wants to know if he should cut his hair or not.. Maybe a third opinion on the matter would help," Pidge spoke as they looked at Lance, then to Keith, who was still looking at his hair, then to Pidge and then back to his hair. He then shrugged and averted his gaze to Lance, still holding some of his black hair into his hands. He seemed to be worried on what Lance would say. Would he make fun of him for his hair? Maybe make a sarcastic comment like he had done before? Keith stayed quiet as Lance looked ready to answer. Looked ready.

Lance hesitated with his answer. He wasn't sure if he wanted to keep pretending like he didn't like Keith's hair or not. He was emotionally drained that day as it was and keeping his normal facade just seemed far too tiring at the moment. He sent Keith a genuine smile and rubbed the back of his neck before he spoke.

"Maybe just a trim? Trimming your hair keeps it healthy, and it looks like you have a lot of split ends." He suggested, hoping that it would be enough to keep Keith from getting all of his hair cut off. "I can ask Allura to get the mice to braid your hair or something. Whenever it gets in the way." He added while turning his head away anxiously.

Keith nodded at the said recommendation and shrugged a little bit. "A trim wouldn't be bad at all. A little shorter and I don't really want the mice to braid my hair... I'll look like a girl, no offense to Allura," He said with a shrug. Keith knew Pidge didn't really associate with any gender, so it wouldn't impact them. Keith then looked to the two before sighing. "I'll think it over, okay? Just give me a little bit of time." He said and then stretched in front of them. Keith walked passed the both and then sighed, yawning a little. He had passed on a lot of sleeping. 

Pidge smiled slightly and watched as Keith had somehow made it passed the room. "He seemed exhausted, you should check on him later, that could help since he's being more open when it comes to you, okay, Lance?" They asked as they patted him on the shoulder. "Oh, and if you came in here to look for Hunk, check the kitchen. He's making lunch for us today," Pidge spoke before walking off.

Lance swallowed hard and nodded slightly even though Pidge was already gone. He could feel the way Keith's words sunk into his skin like a curse, getting even more upset than he had already been. He turned and speed walked to the kitchen, needing to find Hunk soon so he didn't break down into a crying mess before lunch. He reached the kitchen in record time and leaned against the counter, watching his best friend for a few seconds.

"Hey Hunk." Lance said quietly, voice strained as he tried to keep his composure.

Hunk looked up from the strange vegetable he was cutting and looked at Lance. "Lance, what's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked while setting down his knife and wiping off his hands.

"It's so hard, Hunk. Everytime I see Keith I just remember that I'm not good enough for him." Lance choked out, covering his face with his hands.

"Lance, you know that that's not true." Hunk said as he walked around the counter. He pulled Lance into a tight hug, rubbing his back soothingly. "You're thinking about your father again, aren't you? That's why you think you aren't good enough for Keith, huh? It's not true." he said gently. Lance sniffled and clung to the yellow paladin and feeling the tension building in his chest all morning just release into his soft sobs.

Keith sighed as he walked into the empty room of the kitchen. HUnk had left to make the announcement that dinner was ready to be served. Keith sat in his signature spot, looking like he was ready to fall asleep, but didn't. He felt a breeze as someone walked by him, although he wasn't sure who it was. Soon enough, Allura, Coran, Shiro, and Pidge all walked in, sitting in their respective spots. Keith rested his head on his hand which was holding him up. He had his elbow on the table, lazily holding his weight against it. Pidge was easily talking with Shiro on the latest updates on the lions they were prepping for, although Shiro seemed to be far too hungry to even realize he was zoning them out. Hunk walked over to the table with huge plates of food, lining them along the table in two trips.

"Has anyone seen where Lance went?" He asked a bit worriedly, hoping Lance didn't go off to hurt himself. He knew that Lance wouldn't, a tough battle that they fought for, but he was still afraid that Lance would attempt it again.

"I'm right here." Lance said from the doorway, walking in slowly. "I just had to go wash my face." He explained, obviously avoiding that he had went to hide that he had been crying. Hunk didn't need the verbal confirmation to know, though.

Keith sighed, "How many times do you need to wash your face? This is what, the third time?" Keith rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath about it being a little too feminine to be for Lance, but then again, he was sort of judging. He sighed and seemed to be a little worked up over his feelings, although he never told anyone about them. He sighed and looked up at the food, thanking Hunk before taking some of it onto his fork and looking at it. He had a certain taste for food. His was... Unique. Picky others would say, but he was up for trying something new.

Lance tensed up at what Keith said, feeling Hunk looking at him. He was on the opposite side of the table, facing Keith. His eyes welled up with tears again but he didn't even try to stop them, arms flinging out before he could stop himself. He slammed his open palms on the table loudly, grabbing everyone's attention as he glared at Keith.

"You know what? Fuck you, Keith. What do you know about something being feminine? What do you know about me?" He practically yelled as his tears rolled down his cheeks. Hunk reached out for him but Lance turned his body away slightly. He knew that only Hunk and Pidge knew about him being transgender but he couldn't help being upset.

"Look, Lance, I don't really have anything against people being feminine, but It's a little weird how it's kind of like a switch with you. I can't really figure you out." Keith said as he looked to the male and didn't even wait for a reply as he looked away, taking a bite of the food. He didn't feel the need to explain himself and immediately did he feel terrible, like his life was being sucked out of him. His face growing a light pale in shame as he had just said something like that. He didn't know what blossomed in him to do this, but he could feel something growing.

Lance stared at Keith as he tried to find something to say. All he could feel was the urge to scream and yell and break down. Which didn't sound like a bad idea so he closed his eyes. Hunk's eyes widened and he took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. He had seen his best friend do that once, when he last talked to his father before leaving for the Garrison.

"I'm transgender and I am not feminine. Nothing I do is 'feminine', and there's nothing wrong with being feminine. I just can't bring myself to associate myself with the word." Lance said, voice soft despite how he felt. He pushed off the table and turned around, stomping out the door without another word. Hunk sighed heavily as he watched the other leave the room.

Keith watched in surprise as he saw Lance stomping out to the hallway and out of the lunchroom. He excused himself to try and make things right with Lance as he facepalmed himself. He had made it out of the room and making sure to try and find something that would cheer the blue paladin up. He walked around, grabbing small things that made Lance happy. A small stuffed lion that was blue, a small highlighter glowstick that glowed different colors in different settings of lights. Would Lance accept this? Would they be back to their normal selves?

Lance made it back to his room, curling up in the upper left corner of his bed. He had his blanket wrapped around himself tightly as he held a pillow to his chest. His knees were also pressed to his chest through the pillow as he pulled the blanket over his head to hide his face. Lance just felt like crap now, mad at himself for breaking down like that. He knew that Coran, Hunk and Pidge would ambush him later and he knew that Allura and Shiro would probably want to talk to him about how he had acted. He just hoped that Keith wouldn't try to talk to him, he didn't know if he'd be able to deal with it without becoming a crying mess. It was bad enough that Keith had already seen Lance crying before he had stomped off.

Finding Lance, Keith took a turn and glanced into Lance's room, stopping at the entrance. He had a bad habit of lingering in the doorway without being able to bring himself to speak if something was definitely wrong, and it was. He sighed and knocked onto the side of the doorway, hoping to get a response. "Lance, I..." His voice seemed to do a slight waver, wanting to jump. "I just want to say that I'm sorry... I'm sorry I've been a gigantic dick and jerk, not to mention an idiot. I never thought that something like this could happen... Hell, it's space. What else should I expect?!" 

Keith had first reacted this way when he accidentally gave the wrong pronouns to Pidge and nearly got killed. (Lance had to pull the both of them away). Keith looked into the dark room, taking note that the light was off for a reason and that he wouldn't turn it on if Lance didn't want it on.

Lance curled up more and sniffled quietly. He didn't want to respond to Keith, knowing that his voice would crack the next time he spoke. He finally heaved a sigh after a long moment and uncovered his head, looking at Keith. "I-I'm sorry too. Y-you didn't kn-know." He said, voice cracking like he knew it would. He cleared his throat and reached a hand out to Keith. "I-it's not your fault, you didn't make it hard for me." He said quietly, wanting Keith to come sit next to him on the bed.

Keith nodded and walked to the other's bed and sighed, sitting onto it. "Lance, I didn't know what would make you happier so I grabbed them both.." He said before showing the two items. He held out the stuffed blue lion he had just in case something like this happened. Keith always had one, and Lance had a red one if Keith ever felt some sort of loneliness. Keith handed Lance the blue lion, it smelling of Keith's slight amount of cologne. He didn't really like a smell, just to knock out the other smells he had. Growing up was nasty. 

Keith reached for the glowstick and sighed a little bit. "Sorry, still. I feel terrible at the way I said that. I could have said something else other than that..." He spoke and bit his lip, looking away.

Lance shifted, hugging the stuffed lion to his chest as he moved to lean against Keith. He watched the glowstick in Keith's hands as he, himself, petted the lion and enjoyed the smell of the other's cologne. "Yeah, you could have a better choice of words." Lance teased softly, resting his head on Keith's shoulder. "But it's okay. Thank you for coming to fix it and make me feel better." He said honestly while lifting the lion up. He poked Keith's cheek with the mouth of the stuffed toy. "The big, bad wolf isn't so big or bad after all." Lance joked.

Keith rolled his eyes at the joke and sighed softly, shrugging a little bit. "No problem, Lance. I just need to be more... open to a lot of things," He replied before letting out a small and slightly fake smile. He felt incredible responsible for everything that he had ever done. Ever said to make anyone feel bad. He groaned and put his hands over his face. "Ugh. Anyway, give the lion back tomorrow in case you need it in the future, okay?" He asked and ruffled Lance's hair, standing up. "I'm going to get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow for training, okay?" He asked.

Lance watched Keith for a few seconds before nodding to Keith. "Yeah, okay. Do you want your lion?" he asked, scooting to the edge of his bed so he could open the drawer on the side of his bed. He grabbed the red stuffed lion and held it out to Keith. "You look like you need it." He said, looking at Keith hopefully.

Keith nodded gently and ran a hand through his own hair and took the red lion into his arms and nodded gently, smiling. "Lance, tell me if you ever need anything," He said and gently rubbed the small stuffed animal that was in his arms. "Thanks, Lance," He said with a gentle smile as he moved to make his exit, stretching a little to release some of his stress.

Walking back to his room was somewhat silent, other than Keith humming to himself as he held onto the small lion in his arms. Lance watched Keith leave before laying down on his back. He lifted the stuffed lion up and sighed heavily. "What am I going to do?" He asked rhetorically, turning to they on his right side before falling asleep.

Lance pressed the stuffed lion to his face as he walked down the hallway. He was still tired, but he was dressed and awake enough for training. He walked into the training deck, breathing in the faint scent of Keith's cologne before lowering the lion to his chest. He yawned and shuffled over to Hunk, seeing that he was the last one to show up. As always.

Hunk approached Lance with a worried/concerned look on his face. "Did something happen last night? Keith looked slightly off when he walked in this morning. That's saying something as he arrived shortly before you did. He almost skipped from sleeping," He said and let out a small sigh. "Did he say anything bad to you? Are you alright? Was there any killings that I am not aware of? Any almost killings?" Hunk eyed Lance in the eyes, ready to roll his eyes if Lance had hesitated to the point where, yes, Hunk was right. 

Lance held up his hands, holding the lion in his left hand. "Calm down Hunk." He said softly, smiling anxiously since Hunk had started asking so many questions. "He just apologized to me and gave me my lion to make me feel better." He explained before glancing over at Keith. The other didn't look too well and that worried Lance.

Hunk sighed and nodded. "So you both did a lion exchange?" He asked as he motioned to the red lion that Keith was holding under his small towel. He had already sparred with Shiro and needed to cool off, sighing as he let out a gentle yawn. Hunk glanced to Lance again, seeming worried. "Are you sure you both are alright?" He asked as he looked between the two of them.

Lance shrugged and ran his free hand over his face. "I don't know. I'm scared that Keith will think of me differently now that he knows that I'm transgender, but he didn't treat Pidge any differently. And I'm scared that Keith will find out that I might love him, he'll hate me if he finds out." He said.

"No he won't Lance, He-" Suddenly, Shiro clapped and then looked around. "Alright, everyone, let's get training. Lance versus Keith, Hunk versus Pidge, I will supervise this round," He spoke as he glanced around, watching as everyone got into their positions. Keith put his hands up and sighed. "We made up last night and now we have to fight," Keith let out a chuckle and sighed very heavily. He wished he could just pause all of this and admire Lance when he was in fighting stance. He was perfect, the way he looked so confident. It hurt Keith's chest a little to think about it too much.

Lance smiled playfully and put up his fists with a roll of his eyes. "Are you scared?" He teased as he watched Keith get into his own stance. They were going to be practicing without weapons that day which was great, except Lance knew that a touch from Keith would make his heart stop for second. His smile slipped when he felt a new tightness in his chest but he quickly shook it off since Shiro had told them to start. He dodged a few swings from Keith before he had to lean down, hands on his knees as he started coughing violently.

Keith had tried to hit at Lance until he watched Lance lean down, watching him with a new concern that caused him to feel weird, his breath threatening to stop. He tried to stop the coughing that wanted to happen, but he couldn't. Keith covered over his mouth as he started to cough, but it wasn't violent, not yet. Hunk was quick to dodge Pidge and ran to Lance, watching him as he coughed. Keith closed his eyes and felt his throat being scratched every now and then as he tried his best to stop the coughing from happening. He winced heavily and coughed, but moved to Lance to see if the blue paladin was okay. 

Shiro was quick to stop everyone from fighting, even though everyone was. Keith fell to his knees, coughing and taking a very deep breath as his eyes widened with pain as he couldn't tell what was hurting his throat. 

Hunk looked at Lance and placed a hand onto his shoulder, feeling worried. "What's wrong? Do you need water?" He asked as he helped Lance to sit down onto the small resting benches that they had and looked over the tanner male.

Lance covered his mouth and winced as he coughed harder and something fell into his hands. He slowly opened his eyes, coughing weakly now as he looked at what was in his hands. A single blue rose petal was in his hands and it looked like there were faint traces of blood on the edges of the petal. Confusion took over his face as he looked over at Keith and watched as Shiro tried talking to him. "Wh-what the hell?" Lance asked weakly, throat burning with pain.

Keith let out another cough and looked to Lance, biting his lip. He didn't know what was going on. He coughed again, soon enough feeling something moving from his throat and out of his mouth, stray strings of blood showing from the petal to his mouth. It was a striped red carnation that laid in his hands, able to breathe as he grabbed onto his throat. It seared with pain as he sighed, looking away. He whimpered and then moved his hands out to keep himself steady.

Eyes looking from side to side, he tried to think about what this could be. Of all the research he did from trying to help Lance when he was under the weather, he couldn't figure this particular one out. He felt weak, holding onto the ground before he coughed again, coughing harshly this time as another one fell into his hand that had come to fall onto his hand. His eyes blinked heavily as he remembered what it was. 

"Hana.... Hanakaki? No... Hanahaki... The blooming of unrequited love?" Keith spoke as Hunk looked at Keith, confused. "What did you say? You didn't say that loud enough for me to hear," Keith tried to speak again, but only coughs left his mouth along with a single petal.

Lance had barely heard Keith before he too started coughing again. He whimpered when another petal fell into his hands. He barely remembered the disease but then he remembered watching his sister coughing purple lilacs into the sink when he was younger. "Hanahaki Disease." He clarified for Hunk before another bloody petal fell to join the others in his hands.

"Hanahaki Disease is bloomed if a person has an unrequited love." Pidge explained, fixing their glasses. "It can be taken care of by getting the person to reciprocate the love, or to get the flowers surgically removed. The first option is hard to achieve a lot of the time and the second option means that they won't have those romantic feelings anymore." They continued while looking between Keith and Lance.

Keith held onto his throat and then shifted, wincing and blinking, trying to stay awake from the pain. This wasn't the first time that Keith had coughed up blood, but in this situation it was terrifying.

"Alright, they just need to try and get their feelings reciprocated. It shouldn't be that hard, although, rejection could make it worse..." Hunk spoke and thought, running a hand through his hair in embarrassment.

"Pidge, how long does all of this take?" Shiro asked while sitting by Keith, letting the male lean up against himself. "If it isn't that long, then we should try to surgically remove it.." he spoke as Keith shook his head weakly.

"I can't. I don't want to-" He coughed very heavily as he felt blood running onto his hand and then feeling a couple of petals fall.

Lance felt panic hit him, feeling blood speckling on his hands. "I don't want my romantic feelings to disappear." He said hurriedly, ignoring how much his throat hurt. He looked at Keith and whined before coughing again and dropping two damp petals into his hands.

"It just depends on how fast the flowers are growing in their lungs. By the looks of it, it could just be a matter of days. We have to find out who you're both in love with." Pidge explained. They had a faint idea who the two males were in love with.

Keith shook his head and bit his lip. "There's no way that they would like me... He would never..." He said and coughed harsher, his head aching as he huffed in pain, closing his eyes in pain and then biting his lip heavily to feel blood flowing through. He would never be able see blood or flowers in the same way. He felt like he was on water, floating and cold. He sighed and closed his eyes tighter, hurting his throat as he coughed. His cough was strained, prolonged. 

Shiro looked at Keith, slightly shaking him to keep him from falling asleep in this state. "Hunk, keep Lance awake if he starts to pass out," He said and then looked down to Keith. "How do we... get them to do this...?" Shiro whispered to Pidge, not wanting anyone else to hear.

"We just need one to admit their feelings." Pidge whispered back to Shiro. They watched as Hunk shook Lance gently, the smaller male wincing and leaning into him more. "Perhaps we can get Lance to admit his feelings first." Pidge suggested to Shiro, thinking back to how Lance had broke down and mentioned being transgender and considering that they could do that to get Lance to admit his feelings for Keith.

Shiro nodded in response to the other before running his hand through Keith's hair softly. He was worried about the male in his arms, but noticed he wasn't coughing as often, seeing as the other had passed out. "S h i t" He said as he started to shake Keith, slapping his face as well. "We need this to happen fast... and now. Shiro spoke and looked at Pidge. "Any ideas?" He asked them.

Hunk glanced at Keith and then to Lance, wondering how long this had been blooming inside the both of them. "Stay with us, okay, Lance?" He asked as he glanced at his best friend.

Lance tried to nod, coughing weakly. He looked at Keith and felt his chest ache with something besides the disease. He carefully slipped off the bench and crawled to Keith, stifling his coughs as he went to Keith's side. "You don't deserve this." He said quietly while wrapping his arms around Keith tightly. "Who wouldn't love you back? They'd have to be insane to not love you. Hell, I love you Keith." Lance said while he started crying. "And I know that you'll never love someone like me but I don't want you to die." He weeped.

Opening his eyes as he gasped, Keith was finally able to get some breath through his lungs. "Lance, this is probably the easiest thing we could have ever done if it weren't for us being naive..." He paused and shakily sat up, moving his hand to place it at Lance's cheek, his eyes slowly closing as he smiled. "Lance.... I love you, too. Someone would have to be dead not to love you. You're my everything," The red paladin spoke as Shiro smiled lightly at the two of them, glancing to Pidge.

"Did you already see this coming?" He asked and then leaned back against the small bench they were close to as he relaxed from his small freak out/panic attack. Pidge just grinned and shrugged, watching Keith and Lance.

Lance looked at Keith with wide eyes and felt the pressure in his chest ease. He lunged forward after a moment and tackled Keith to the ground, hugging him tightly. "You dumb idiot." He giggled against Keith's neck while he clung to the other.

"That's a double negative." Pidge pointed out.

"Shut up, you gremlin." Lance mumbled, nuzzling against Keith's neck.

"Hey! That 'gremlin' happened to save our lives... sort of I guess," Keith said and smiled, peppering Lance's face (or what he could reach) with small and soft kisses. He was smiling as every single one of them made his heart flutter, in a good way.

Shiro smiled and looked at everyone. A proud space dad overwatching his family become a little closer together and dare he say it?

 

B o n d.


End file.
